AGILITY BARKING
 and anything else with motion. One of the students actually asked if I could move Bella away from her and her 11mth old Portuguese water dog.  I was so embarrassed and Bella just couldn't help herself.The trainer at the end told me not to worry about it. I missed the first class and she said that she had mentioned that the herding dogs would be really excited.  Should I just stay away from this other student and her timid dog and hang out with the other herding dogs???? does the barking ever stop ???? should I just ignore it???? I hate to keep telling Bella no since she really seems to have fun and just wants to go go go to the fun things everyone else is doing.  |
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Not doing agility or other social activities with my guys, it's hard for me to comment, but I will anyway  I'd move away from others, you don't want to discourage her interest. |
| I discourage Harry from barking during agility. We don't have a problem with it on the sidelines during class it is when we are out on the course and he is frustrated with me and barks. BUT he is very attuned to the other dogs doing the course. Sometimes now even after four years on a given day I can tell he is going crazy as each of the other dogs bangs the teeter. He will get ansy and cry. I firmly tell him "no" and then when he gets quiet I give him a calm "good boy". If he is completely quiet and calm as the next dog goes over the teeter then I say "good boy" and pop him a treat. The one good thing we learned at our terrible first agility school was the term "short leash". That meant Harry needed to stay by me and not mess with the other dogs. As a result Harry who loves to play has no expectation to interact with the other dogs during class. Basically what you want to do is teach Bella some agility etiquette. Those are the "rules" you want her to abide by if she wants to do something fun like agility. They are your rules but you need to set them for your satisfaction and overall positive experience. Just because she is happy to see someone doesn't mean you will allow her to jump on them. It is the same concept and she is intelligent so she will figure it out. In no way do "game rules" diminish the fun of the game. Of course being sheepdogs, they will challenge these rules on occassion.  You are smart to ask about this now because whatever you decide you want to start training from the beginning. Good luck and have fun. |
| Like Judi said - set the rules. All dogs have their bark triggers from excitement. Chewie is funny to watch - the more energy the dog working has, the more he is likely to bark, quiver, wiggle and just wants to be out there too! Boring slow dogs he totally ignores. He has several dogs that he just KNOWS are the high energy ones, and he is all ready and excited as soon as it's their turn... How we manage it - We have crates provided at the training center at ringside for anyone to use. There is only 1 crate large enough for an OES at our end, and a very activity reactive BC gets that one. My friend Sue with her uber-wired Briard crates her boy in the entryway, and he only comes in for his runs. Then back out to his crate. He is perfect in a soft crate out there, otherwise if he was in the training center proper by all the excitement he flips out. I usually tether Chewie to the leg of the conformation grooming table set at the far edge - we have a no loose dog rule. Even if they are perfectly obedience trained, it's still the rule. I sit in the row of chairs right by him. I turn him away if he gets too excited and starts whining...barks would be next. He usually knows if he wants to watch he has to be quiet....  but sometimes he just is overwhelmed and I have to shush him. One of my instructors has a new pup, and she is crated (there for socialization). She really goes nuts when she sees mom work her older dog to demonstrate something for us. She gets a squirt with the provided squirt bottle....that was my job last Tuesday, as Chewie and I were right by her crate. NO barking allowed. We have one guy with 3 mini schnauzers. His older 2 are in my class, his younger one in the next hour's class. They, being yappy dogs, are quite annoying. We cover them...and wish they would shut up! He seems oblivious to it, never attempts to quiet them.  So - there are lots of options, you'll just have to experiment a bit to find what you need to do. At our class a huge amount to our learning is from our classmates as well, so we really need to be able to pay attention, not be stuck dealing with our dog being out of control or rude.  |
| Well now I feel better. When she barked I said no and tried to turn her away if she continued to bark. this was what her trainer for herding would do it she got too excited with the sheep. When I mentioned this to the trainer at the agility class she acted like the barking was no big deal and didn't really say anything about stopping it. I thought I should stop the barking but don't want to shut her off from enjoying the agility.......so is the consensus bark "quiet", 2nd bark turn her away, 3rd bark remove and crate her????? or should I try the quiet commend a few more times before turning her away...... the turning away did help alot with the sheep barking |
| Ecco is similar. She goes CRAZY when she sees the other dogs doing something fun and it's not her turn. I try to keep her entertained with toys or activities, but sometimes I just can't get her to not focus on the other dogs. So, when she gets over-excited, I take her out of the ring immediately. We stand where we can get out in just a few steps. She's learning, and I can see her really trying to control herself about half the time. When she does this, she'll look at the other dogs, and then yelp a little and back up about 5 steps. Then she looks up at me, because she knows she'll get a reward. That's pretty significant, since the first day I had a sore shoulder from fighting her desire to chase and bark at the other dogs. What really bothers me, though, is that some of the other owners in the class know that Ecco is trying, but don't seem to respect that. There will be two owners standing 10 feet from us with their dogs. Then, their dogs start to play in the middle of class, maybe while we're waiting for a turn at the tunnel, or something. They go ahead and let the play go on , both dogs are bouncing around each other and yipping, and what does Ecco do? She goes berserk. They look at Ecco like she has a problem, and I have to remove Ecco from the ring, when she would have been fine, if only they'd respected her unique learning style! Grrr! |
| One of the most important things I learned is that its hard to keep an OES from barking...and ripping your arm off with all the excitment. That being said, I keep treats right in my hand at all times and if things start to go south we start to "train" with treats. Keep the attention focused on you and have the dog do a sit or down or whatever to keep their mind off(mostly) what is going on. I also have two soft crates that live in my SUV. If I go someplace that does not have crates, well then I have my own. Just having them in a crate will not shut them up if they can still see the fun thats being had so something to cover the crate is important too. Clueless people make me insane and can't see that its their little angel that is driving your dog nuts. Dogs playing ringside do not make for a calm environment and interrupts watching what happens in the ring so you can watch and learn from others and it is important to (try) to be a good owner and keep your dog quiet. Finally a last thought...My last class I had Simon trained that after his turn in the ring that he had to go in the crate.He ran to it and went right in. We did this through treats, treats and more treats. He happily went into the crate because he knew that he would get a treat for this. Last, last thought, honest. Try to give no dinner or a light dinner the night of the class. Makes those treats SO much better (feed them after class). |
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